With November--and its many state, local and midterm Congressional elections--just around the corner, candidates are promising citizens a more open government in exchange for their vote. Access advocates believe that recent revelations about government secrecy (such the National Security Administration's covert warrantless spying program) and Washington corruption scandals have boosted public support for more democratic and less secretive government at the national, state and local levels, and campaigns are picking up on it.

Experts testified last month at a subcommittee hearing of the House Government Reform Committee that agencies still have a long way to go toward improving their handling of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Their testimony, along with troubling findings from a congressional report on FOIA, may help move reform legislation forward.

The House Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to mark up chemical security legislation later this week. The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 (H.R. 5695), introduced by Rep. Daniel Lungren (R-CA) last month, currently has ten cosponsors. Critics of the bill, including a number of environmental and public interest groups, charge that it would actually lead to less security for our nation's chemical plants.

Testimony of J. Robert Shull, Director of Regulatory Policy, before the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs of the House Committee on Government Reform

on "The Paperwork Reduction Act at 25: Opportunities to Strengthen and Improve the Law"

Mar. 8, 2006

Read the press release

Download the prepared statement and appendix.Testimony of J. Robert Shull, Director of Regulatory Policy, before the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs of the House Committee on Government Reform

on "The Paperwork Reduction Act at 25: Opportunities to Strengthen and Improve the Law"